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Thom's Trade Directory 1849 - County of Kildare

County Kildare History and Heritage

Lewis's Topographical Dictionary 1837

Towns & Villages

MOONE

 

MOONE, a parish, in the barony of KILKEA and MOONE, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Ballytore, on the mail coach road from Dublin to Carlow: the population is returned with Timolin.

This parish comprises 7220 statue acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £4234 per annum: the soil is tolerably good and agriculture improving; the land is chiefly under tillage, with some excellent pasture.

There are quarries of good grey stone, used for building. The village consists of about 40 houses: here are extensive mills, capable of grinding 15,000 bags of flour annually, the property of Ebenezer Shackleton, Esq., who is building an elegant residence in the Elizabethan style adjoining. Moone Abbey, the seat of Benedict A. Yates, Esq., takes its name from a monastery of the order of St. Francis, near which it is situated; and on the summit of a neighbouring hill are the remains of a long narrow church, supposed to have belonged to that establishment. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, forming part of the union of Timolin; the rectory is appropriate to the economy fund of the cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin. The tithes amount to £378, of which £252 is payable to the economy fund, and £126 to the vicar. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Castledermot; the chapel is a large cruciform structure in the village. There are remains of an ancient castle, supposed to have been built by one of the first English adventurers, on the bank of the river, above which, one tower yet standing forms a conspicuous object. Little of the history of this castle is known. It received considerable injury during the disturbances of 1798; but part of the building is preserved in a habitable condition by B. A. Yates, Esq. Near the ruins of the Franciscan monastery is a very curious ancient stone cross; and at a short distance, there is an artificial mount, in which Counsellor Ash was interred, by his own desire, and which has since been planted and enclosed with a wall.


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